The Self Love Club met today in the Yoga Room for the second time this year. The monthly club is led by sophomores Francesca Cappello and Keely Nett.

Fitness and Wellness teacher Alison Hirshan is the advisor for this club. Hirshan said that Cappello and Nett created this club to help teenagers in “feeling a better sense of self and self-love.”

“What they were hoping to get out of it was just [to] bring awareness to the struggles that teenage girls go through and how they feel around all things self-image, body image, who they are online and on social media,” Hirshan said.

Hirshan said that the club has been a success, with students from across grades showing up for meetings. She thought that the conversations extended what is talked about in HD curriculum.

“It’s cool that the students can bring up their own prompts and questions and ideas they have and then we can discuss further, because sometimes I don’t know what’s going on in the teenage mind,” Hirshan said. “They get to kind of come up with what they want to talk about around it and come up with ideas on how to love themselves more.”

Sophomore Billi Newmyer said that today’s meeting was focused on Photoshop and why girls choose to use it as a tool to edit their photos. She said that from this meeting, she understands that photoshop editing on social media is rooted in insecurity.

“We shouldn’t tear others girls down for Photoshop, but we shouldn’t always encourage it,” Newmyer said.

Newmyer said that the club focuses on appreciating oneself and accepting insecurities and flaws.

“I think it’s really important to love yourself, and I think it’s very hard to do as a high school girl in Los Angeles,” Newmyer said.